Ed Fiori, Who Once Caught Tiger Woods at the John Deere Classic, Dies at 72

The 72-year-old died Sunday after battling cancer; in three of his four PGA Tour wins he hunted down future Hall of Famers, including a 20-year-old Tiger Woods.

Ed Fiori, a four-time PGA Tour winner, died at age 72 / The Augusta Chronicle-USA TODAY NETWORK

Ed Fiori is the answer to a great golf trivia question. 

Who denied Tiger Woods from converting his first 54-hole lead on the PGA Tour into a victory? 

In 1996, a 43-year-old Fiori entered the final round of the John Deere Classic (then known as the Quad City Classic) one back, but hunted down the 20-year-old Woods for his fourth and final Tour win. Woods, in his third professional start, tied for fifth. He had a three-stroke lead early before a quadruple bogey on the 4th hole delayed his introduction to the winner’s circle. 

”I was expecting [Woods] to win,” Fiori said. “It was his tournament to win. He was playing great.”

On July 6, 2025, the day of the 2025 John Deere Classic’s final round, Fiori died from cancer at the age of 72. 

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“Ed Fiori was a true gentleman in our sport, and is a player who would often be referred to as a pro’s pro,” said PGA Tour Champions president Miller Brady. "In three of his four wins on the PGA Tour, he dueled down the stretch with future World Golf Hall of Fame members, most notably Tiger Woods in 1996. That grit and resolution in the face of immeasurable odds is incredibly admirable in every aspect of life, and I know he battled cancer with that same determination until the end. He will be missed by all of us at the Tour.”

Fiori was born on April 21, 1953, in Lynwood, Calif. He played college golf for the Houston Cougars and was part of the 1977 national championship-winning squad as a senior and the team’s No. 1 player. 

He claimed his maiden Tour triumph at the 1979 Southern Open in a playoff against future Hall of Famer Tom Weiskopf, who missed a 3-foot putt for the win on the first extra hole. Fiori then won with a 13-footer for birdie. 

“I’m just still numb,” Fiori said afterward. “I thought I had lost the tournament right there.” 

Fiori’s second Tour win was the 1981 Western Open. Then at the 1982 Bob Hope Desert Classic, he defeated Tom Kite in a playoff.

He also won the PGA Tour Champions’s 2004 MasterCard Classic.

Overall, Fiori logged 583 PGA Tour starts between 1978 and 2004. In addition to his four wins, he had two runner-ups, five top-three finishes and 38 top 10s. 

His most memorable, of course, came in the Quad Cities 29 years ago, where Fiori ended a 14-year winless drought as the shortest hitter on Tour, averaging 238.9 yards off the tee. Just one week earlier, he was contemplating retiring and becoming a charter boat captain. 

Instead, he pulled off the unthinkable and is forever part of golf lore. 

“Kind of like the grass snake getting the cobra,” Fiori said with a smile and a wink.